Expense Watch Quickstart Guide
Introduction
This guide will help you get started with the DIA’s automated purchasing system Expense Watch.
The guide is designed with all our users in mind, the glancers, the studiers, the visionaries, and yes, even those in denial.
Take a moment to check out the icons below and what they mean.
/ Quickstart / The quickstart icon keeps the glancers in mind. Just the points needed to get through the process, but finer details and other features are left for the details space./ Details / These points go more into depth with how to do each step, as well as defining various terms and fields in the program
/ Training Tip / These are points that your Purchasing Department felt you should keep in mind while using the program. Usually, these are a direct result of many questions we get pertaining to the program.
/ Speed Tip / For the no-nonsense user. If you don’t want to spend a lot of time in the system, learn these tips.
/ Life Saver / These are the things you can do to make the entire process much smoother and easier to understand. They may be alterations to the standard process, or may relate to more specific types of transactions.
Before you use Expense Watch:
It is important to understand where a transaction is to be charged. Without this information, you will be unable to send your request for approval. If you do not have this information, you may obtain it from your supervisor or department head.
Each purchase must have a valid account number, which looks like this:
► Business Unit (231-0000 for example, is the business unit for the Purchasing Department’s departmental account)
► GL Account (3353 for example is the number assigned to an expense account for Operating Supplies)
► Project (21-001 for example is the number assigned to all general operating projects, there are also restricted funds, which begin with 22-XXXX)
If you are purchasing for a new event, program, or project, or department:
You must request from accounting an account code be setup for your new event, project, program, or department. If this has not been established you will be unable to route your requisition for approval.
Once you understand which account codes to use you may create your requisition.
Creating a Requisition
Step 1
Ü Log in to expensewatch.com:
Ü Go to www.expensewatch.com.
Ü Click login in the upper right corner of the page.
Ü Enter your login id and password. Your login id is your email address.
Single Greatest Secret to Saving Time on Step 1:
Ü The DIA’s Information Systems Department should have placed an icon on your desktop, which looks like this.
Ü If you don’t see this icon, contact IS and request it. All you have to do is double click it whenever you need to access Expense Watch. This tip will save you ½ to 1 ½ minutes each time you use the system, depending on the speed of the internet.
Step 2
Ü Create or edit a requisition by clicking Submit Requisition on the expensewatch.com Home Tab.
Step 3 Quickstart
Ü Select an existing requisition by clicking on an in-progress requisition on the right hand side of the page, or create a new requisition by providing a requisition title and date.
Ü If you create a new requisition, you may also choose a default business unit and/or project for the requisition.
Ü You may change the business unit and/or project line by line, if necessary,when you are finalizing your requisition.
Ü Click Create to create the requisition and Cancel to return to the Purchasing Tab.
Step 3 The Details
Ü The left side of the screen is where you create new requisitions.
Ü The right side of the screen shows any requisitions which were started, but not competed.
Ü Requisitions on the right are NOT routed or completed.
Ü To complete or route a requisition on the right, you must open the requisition and complete the steps below.
Defaults
Ü If you select a default business unit and project, every product you add to your requisition will automatically be charged to that default, but can be changed on the last screen of the requisition before you click route.
Titles & Dates
Ü Titles and dates can be changed on any screen as you create your requisition.
Ü If you route your requisition and it is rejected, the title will be changed by the system to read “REJECTED: (req. title…)
Ü You can remove the word REJECTED when you edit or correct your requisition.
Ü If a Requisition is rejected it will be listed on the right hand side of the screen in a special disapproved area
Ü To correct or resubmit your requisition, first read the comments on the right hand side of the screen, and then open it to edit.
Single Greatest Secret to Saving Time on Step 3:
Avoid missing requisitions:
Most users think they have routed a requisition only to find it sitting in their in progress area. This happens for a number of reasons, but remember – if a requisition is sitting in your in-progress area , it is not on its way to the vendor. Keep your in-progress area cleaned out of any requisitions to ensure you don’t confuse them with requisitions you thought were already routed. This tip could save you minutes or hours of time trying to track down requisitions that never routed to begin with.
Create a requisition from a previous requisition:
When you create a requisition, Expense Watch archives the requisition to allow you to re-order line items later on.
Step 4 Quickstart
Add items to the requisition by:
Ü Selecting items from your product catalog in expensewatch.com.
Ü Clicking on a network vendor button to access the vendor store directly, and selecting items from the vendor catalog.
Ü When you use network vendors, expensewatch.com will display your company’s negotiated contract rate rather than the vendor’s list price for items.
Ü When you are finished adding items to your requisition, click Continue.
Ü If you want to delete the requisition, click Delete.
Ü If you want to stop working on your requisition, and finish adding items later, click Close to save your requisition.
Requisitions can contain line items from multiple vendors.
Step 4 The Details
Product Catalogue
Ü Expense Watch has the capability to store products you buy regularly.
Ü You can create the items on your own (see add item to requisition below) or if there are too many to add at one time, Purchasing can upload them from an Excel file.
Ü You find products in the catalogue by entering the description or SKU on the left hand side of the screen or by entering the vendor name, and then clicking search.
Ü Once you click search, a list of product results will appear below. Here you simply modify the quantity and then click the green add button to add them to your requisition.
Ü Once you see the item you are looking for, enter the quantity you desire and click the green plus add button.
Network Vendors
Ü Some vendors, like amazon.com or Staples, have integrated their websites with Expense Watch.
Ü To access the site, simply click on any of the icons under the Network Vendor area (center of the screen).
Ü This works like any other web site shopping cart , except that some vendors have a button which says submit, others say checkout, others might say verify. They all mean – add these items to your requisition. Click the button and eureka, the item is listed in your requisition.
Add Item to Requisition
o You can add a new item to your requisition by clicking the Add Item to Catalog link.
o Doing this creates both an item in your requisition, and an item in the DIA product catalogue, so that the next time you create a requisition and need to re-order something, you can do so simply by searching for it and adding it.
o You can also browse recently added items by clicking the drop down under Recently added to catalogue drop down.
o We won’t cover order pads here as we don’t see much value added at the DIA. If you have questions about order pads you can click on the help icon in Expense Watch and search under Order Pads.
To add a new item:
1. Pick Product or Service by clicking the radio button above.
2. Select your vendor
3. Enter the Vendor’s Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) or ITEM code. This is important because it tells the vendor exactly which item you are ordering. Note – if you selected the service radio button, SKU is not required and usually not applicable.
4. SKIP Manufacturer Name
5. SKIP Manufacturer Number
6. Enter a Description in the Description field.
7. Detailed Description is only used for searching for items later. For example, you can input key words, like shoe, box, red, glass, etc. If anyone searches for those words later on, your product will appear. This field does not go to the vendor and is not used for a PO.
8. SKIP Web Reference
9. Enter a unit. The unit is the measurement by which price is determined. Examples of Unit are:
a. Printing vendors often charge pr 1,000 pages which is denoted “Per M.”
b. If you are buying a case of toilet paper you might enter “24 rolls/case.”
c. If you are hiring labor, you would enter “Man hour” or “Hourly.”
d. If you are paying on contact payments, you can enter “Contract Payment.”
10. Enter the price PER UNIT of what you are buying – note, this can be edited on the final page of your requisition.
11. SKIP default Quantity
12. Select your Default Category – Categories are listed alphabetically and stored in groups For example, there is a group called building operations, which appears in the list as follows:
a. .Building Operations
13. SKIP the GL Account – you will enter this on the last page.
14. Don’t check “Add another product when finished” – see our speed tip below.
..
The Facts on Categories:§ Categories are stored alphabetically and in groups.
§ For example, there is a group called Maintenance Operations and Related.
§ To the left you can see a snapshot of how Expense Watch manages these categories.
§ When you are creating a requisition, this category appears as follows:
.Maintenance Operations & Related
..Adhesives & Sealants
..Air Distribution
..Carpentry
..Cleaning & Painting
Notice how the main category has one period “.” While the sub categories have two periods “..”
Don’t see the category you need?
§ We aim to streamline this list, so it won’t always cover every single item we purchase, but there should be a close enough group which you can select.
§ If you really need to add a new category, contact the Purchasing Department.
The Two Greatest Secrets to Saving Time on Step 4:
1. When adding multiple products, add the first product and click save. Once you return to the add items to requisition screen (blue screen), click the BACK button on your browser or press Backspace on your keyboard. This takes you right back to the add product screen with your previous data still entered. Now, simply edit the SKU, Description, and price. This tip will save you between 1 to 3 minutes per line item and reduces creating line items to just a few seconds.
2. Upload any documents, such as proposals, estimates, or emails to your requisition for approver review. The process is simple and fast:
o Click the Download Fax Sheet button. This will open adobe acrobat and display one page with a barcode and fax number.
o Print the fax barcode sheet
o Place the fax barcode sheet on top of your documents and fax everything to the 800 number listed on the fax sheet.
o In a minute of two all of your documents will be in your requisition as attachments.
o This will save you and your approvers much time over scanning and attaching documents, because scanning takes as much as 3 to 5 minutes longer, and the file sizes are so large that opening them requires more time for your approver.
Step 5 Finalize Requisition Contents Quick Start
Ü After clicking Continue, you will see a detailed version of your requisition.
Ü Review your requisition and make changes, if necessary, to the line items in your requisition.
Ü You can add new line items by clicking Continue Shopping, delete the requisition by clicking Delete, and save your requisition by clicking Close.
Step 5 Finalize Requisition Contents Details
You may also:
Ü Click the Allocate icon to allocate the cost of line items across multiple business units, GLs, and/or projects.
Ü Click the Recurring Requisition icon to create a recurring requisition from a line item, set to re-occur at the interval you specify.
Ü Click the Previous Order History icon to review the instances where that line item was previously ordered.
The Business Unit Under Budget icon indicates that your business unit is currently under budget.
The Business Unit Over Budget icon indicates that your business unit is currently over budget .